FBI Director Kash Patel offered a stern message to the media moments after being sworn in as the ninth leader of the nation's top law enforcement agency.
"Look, I know the media's in here, and if you have a target, the target's right here," Patel said Friday as he pointed to himself. "It is not the men and women at the FBI."
"You have written everything you possibly can about me that's fake, malicious, slanderous and defamatory. Keep it coming. Bring it on, but leave the men and women of the FBI out of it. They deserve better," Patel told news outlets, sparking applause from his supporters in the room.
KASH PATEL TAKES REINS AT SCANDAL-RIDDEN FBI WITH ‘AMERICA ALWAYS’ MINDSET: ‘LET GOOD COPS BE COPS’
FBI Director Kash Patel told the media "bring it on" moments after he was sworn into office. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)
Patel addressed his critics who believe there will be a "two-tiered system of justice."
"Not with Attorney General Bondi," he assured the skeptics. "There's a singular system of justice for all Americans, and there will be accountability."
"We will uphold the Constitution. We will uphold ourselves to the Constitution. The men and women at the FBI — I have your back because you have the backs of the American people," he said. "You will be held to the same high standard. Any deviation from that standard will not be tolerated at this Federal Bureau of Investigation."
DEMOCRATS SILENT ON PATEL AS FIRST ‘PERSON OF COLOR’ FBI DIRECTOR DESPITE PREVIOUS DEI EMPHASIS
Kash Patel is sworn in as FBI director by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in the Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) on the White House campus in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 21, 2025. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)
Patel was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a 51–49 vote on Thursday.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined Democrats in opposing his nomination while Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who opposed some of President Donald Trump's high-profile Cabinet picks like Pete Hegseth, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, voted in favor of Trump's pick for FBI director.
Patel is expected to overhaul the FBI as Republicans have long accused the agency of being plagued by political motivations. He will now begin serving his 10-year term.
Patel faced a tough confirmation hearing after being nominated by President Trump. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
During his swearing-in ceremony, Patel expressed gratitude to Trump, his family and the senators who voted for his confirmation, saying they'd put an "enormous leap of faith" in him.
"I am living the American dream, and anyone that thinks the American dream is dead, just look right here. You're talking to a first-generation Indian kid who's about to lead the law enforcement community of the greatest nation on God’s green Earth. That can’t happen anywhere else," Patel said.